Phone scams are annoying, but they’re also costing Americans big bucks, according to a recent study by Truecaller.
The study revealed that 22.1 million Americans lost about $9.5 billion in phone scams in the last year.
We’d like to think we know when we’re about to get swindled, but about 1 in 10 of us fall prey, according to the study.
It’s not just a problem for people with landlines. Truecaller's data shows the majority (more than 70 percent) of the fraudulent calls happened on mobile devices in the past 12 months.
And, for victims, the money lost is nothing to sneeze at. The study found that phone scam victims lost about $430 on average last year.
What’s more, the most swindled group is adult men. Thirty three percent of scam victims surveyed were men ages 18 to 34, according to the report.
Of course, there are some apps that can help screen those calls. Truecaller has one, and another popular one is Hiya.
The Better Business Bureau recommends keeping an eye on your bank accounts if you think you may have fallen victim to a phone scam.
To read more about the study, go here: https://blog.truecaller.com/.
